This video covers the basics of character movement through a variety of controls, such as the accelerometer, keyboard, and mouse. The fundamentals of object rendering through a DirectX implementation of SpriteBatch are also covered. Check out the article for this video at…

Shaders are the core part of many modern video games. This video covers the fundamentals of the High Level Shader Language as well as its application in creating vertex and pixel shaders for a Windows Store DirectX & XAML hybrid project. Check out the article for this video at…

In this video, Den Delimarsky introduces the FallFury project, describing the basic core and organization as well as the technologies used to create the game. Check out the article for this video at http://channel9.msdn.com/coding4fun/articles/Fall-Fury-Part-1-Introduction For the source code, head…

Hardware Testing & DebuggingAs previously mentioned, FallFury runs on multiple types of hardware as long as that hardware supports Windows 8. This article describes the project’s general testing and debugging process, including setting the debug configurations and remote debugging. Check out the…

CharmsWith the release of the Windows 8 operating system, applications are now able to easily integrate with each other and have a unified way to control their workflow through unique system-wide contracts called Charms. Out of the multitude of available options, FallFury leverages two charms—Share…

Particle SystemDuring gameplay there are scenarios during which users need to be visually notified that something has happened, such as a collision with an obstacle or an enemy shell. One way to do this is by having explosion or item breaking simulation, which brings us to the next large component…

Element InteractionDuring the gameplay multiple entities interact with each other to make the gaming experience what it is. The bear collides with obstacles and collects buttons, monsters shoot shells that can fly off-screen or hit the bear—all this is possible with the help of the basic collision…

Animations & Item TransitionsFallFury relies on a lot of dynamic content. As you already aware of how SpriteBatch is invoked inside the FallFury rendering stack, this article focuses on how dynamic activities are handled on existing textures and entities. If you need a quick look at what was…

Rendering Level ElementsIn the previous article, you learned how to build level XML files in order to create playable levels. This article discusses how the internal parser works and how XML nodes become items on the game screen. Check out the video for this article at…

Creating LevelsOne of the goals set when developing FallFury was making the game extensible in regards to playable levels. Furthermore, I thought that it would make sense from the development and testing perspective to have levels as a completely separate entity that can be modified as necessary.…